International protection human rights

							Course                         INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION
Language of Instruction:       English                  Level                         II.
                                                        ECTS                          5
Required Prerequisites:        None                     Number of hours               15
Holder                         Alenka KUHELJ, PhD.      Semester                      Autumn or spring

                               alenka.kuhelj@fu.uni-lj.si
Methods of teaching:           lectures and seminars
Form of Assessment:            seminar work and an oral exam

     2. Aim of the course

This course provides understanding of the international principles and methods that are aimed at
protecting human rights. It encourages inquiry into and discussion of current issues in international
human rights law. That way the wide range of current topics in this field are tackled in the course. The
focus is on current jurisprudence from international and regional mechanisms for protecting human
rights. The course is taught in interactive lectures with seminars and case studies in specific areas of
international human rights protection law.


Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans should be entitled. These rights
are ascribed "naturally," which means that they are not earned and cannot be denied on the basis of
race, creed, ethnicity or gender.They represent entitlements of the individual or groups vs. the
government or institutions, as well as responsibilities of the individual and the government authorities.
The human rights are protected in the international documents such as the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.         The rights established by these documents
include economic, social, cultural, political and civil rights.


One of the focuses is on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (formally the Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), which is an international treaty of
extreme importancy to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe.


Considered is also the        Americas' system- the Organization of American States (OAS), which
approved the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and an Inter-American Charter of
Social Guar-antees. The content of this declaration is similar to that of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.


Here mentioned declarations, conventions and covenants are considered also from the practical,
case- law point of view.
3. Learning outcomes 


Knowledge and understanding                  Students will learn about the most important aspects on
                                             human rights protection.


                                             They will acquire additional theoretical knowledge and
                                             understanding of the fundamental human rights and
                                             freedoms in the world. Their knowledge gained at the
                                             graduate-level studies will be upgraded from the legal
                                             aspects of the protection of human rights.



Application                                  Students will be able to apply the knowledge gained to
                                             other thematic fields, disseminate it and use it in the
                                             field of scientific research. This course helps the
                                             students to expand the certain learning skills which are
                                             particularly useful in autonomous study and in focusing
                                             further independent training.
Reflection                                   Ability to reflect on issues related to implementing the
                                             human rights case law approaches to knowledge and
                                             legislation of international regulation of human rights.
Transferable skills                          Students will learn to use the knowledge of human
                                             rights case law for analysis as well as methods for
                                             decision making at the sphere of protecting the human
                                             rights law. Students can make use of them when
                                             performing the law and policy analysis studies.



        4. Structure of the course
The course will consist of the following modules (to be updated or deleted):
    -     Lectures
    -     Small-group seminars (case studies)
    -     Individual tutoring (essay preparation)
    -     Plenary discussions (readings and essay presentations)



        5. Workload
To be revised later, based on the common categories and structure we’ll agree on later.
ECTS: 5
    6. Prerequisites
Before participating in this course, students must have some basic knowledge about the
functioning of the legal systems, EU law, etc.


    7. Examination

Examination module          Contribution to grade
Exam                        40%
Essay on topic of choice    50%
Presentation                10%




    8. Course coordinator

Assistant Professor Alenka Kuhelj